Vegas oddsmakers say the Broncos will finish this season 6-10, an improvement over last year’s record.

Understandably, the Broncos have lost some shine, at least in Las Vegas.

A Super Bowl favorite or co-favorite throughout the 2013 season, the Broncos are now tied with the New England Patriots for the third-best odds to win the 2014-season Super Bowl, according to the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino sports book.

The Broncos and Patriots have 7-to-1 odds to win it all next season. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are the favorites with 4-to-1 odds followed by their NFC West-rival San Francisco 49ers at 6-to-1.

NEWARK, N.J. — If you came here for video of Marshawn Lynch, prepare for disappointment. He talked for 6 minutes, 28 seconds. I wasn’t there for those, bouncing from nearly a dozen of his teammates and coaches.

Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers celebrates as he runs off the field after the NFL wild card playoff game Sunday. (Andy Lyons, Getty Images)

This one comes via Twitter from @danlewismedia, and the answer is five, including this season, which has seen the AFC West’s Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers all make the postseason. That answer comes with one caveat, though: I’m just looking at seasons dating back to 2002, when the NFL broke each conference into four divisions from three.

Here are the other instances:

2006 season, 2007 postseason: The Eagles (10-6), Cowboys (9-7) and Giants (8-8) all made the playoffs out of the NFC East.

2007 season, 2008 postseason: The Colts (13-3), Jaguars (11-5) and Titans (10-6) all made the playoffs out of the AFC South. The Cowboys (13-3), Giants (10-6) and Redskins (9-7) all made the playoffs out of the NFC East. The Giants, the first wild card, eventually won the Super Bowl.

2011 season, 2012 postseason: The Ravens (12-4), Steelers (12-4) and Bengals (9-7) all made the playoffs out of the AFC North.

Yes, yes, yes, until they prove us otherwise. The Broncos shorthanded offensive line allowed just 20 sacks in 16 games this season, fewest in the NFL. (The next fewest allowed was by the Lions, who allowed 23, the next fewest by a playoff team, the Bengals with 29.) In addition, the Broncos allowed just 51 quarterback hits, second-fewest behind the Bengals, who had 47.

There’s no bigger sample size, really, and even an improved pass rush shouldn’t be able to do too much against Peyton Manning’s line. Last time the two teams played, Manning didn’t take a sack, and though the Chargers’ pass rush has looked better, it’s really just been over the past two games.

Shayne Graham of the Saints celebrates with teammate Benjamin Watson after kicking the game-winning field goal to defeat the Eagles Saturday. (Getty Images)

After one weekend of (amazing) playoff games, Hochman is on top, 3-2. Here’s a breakdown of the scores and who got what right. Note: neither of us got any of the margins of victory correct, although there were a few instances where we were close. If you want to see our initial picks and rationale behind them, click here.

Colts defeat Chiefs, 45-44: Hochman: 1, Niesen: 0

Saints defeat Eagles, 26-24: Hochman: 1, Niesen: 0

Chargers defeat Bengals, 27-10: Hochman 0, Niesen: 1

49ers defeat Packers, 23-20: Hochman 1, Niesen 1

Total: Hochman 3, Niesen 2

We’ll have next week’s picks on the blog bright and early Friday morning.

Von Miller is taken off the field in Houston after injuring his knee. (The Associated Press)

The final injury tally is in, and the NFL recorded 61 ACL tears during training camp, the preseason and regular season of 2013. According to STATS, a total of 2,589 players appeared in at least one preseason or regular-season NFL game this year, meaning that 2.4 percent of players were carted off with such a knee injury.

Will the Broncos make the Super Bowl? Benjamin Hochman and Joan Niesen both seem to think so. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Guess what! The NFL playoffs are a mere day away, despite the fact that the Broncos have to wait another week to finally take the field against the Colts, Chiefs or Chargers.

In that festive playoff spirit, the esteemed Mr. Benjamin Hochman and I have decided to engage in a playoff picks competition to see who’s better at predicting the most unpredictable of things. Here’s how it works: Every Friday of the playoffs, we will post our picks for the upcoming weekend. Each correctly picked winner will earn 1 point, and if either of us correctly picks the margin of victory, that’s worth 5 points. We also each put down early Super Bowl picks. Getting one Super Bowl team right earns 2 points, getting both earns 4, and getting both plus the winner correct earns 8. We’ll also re-pick the Super Bowl beforehand, with the same scoring system as the earlier rounds.

So follow along to find out which one of us is a bigger ignoramus. My vote’s on Hochman. I’ll post a scorecard every Monday to tally our results.

This one comes via Twitter from @mysc7, and frankly, I think it’s the best question I’ve gotten for one of these all year. (Yeah, I know, it has nothing to do with football, and horoscopes are a load of you-know-what, but still! This is fun!)

After consulting the Huffington Post’s horoscopes, because I don’t know, the Huffington Post seems legitimate, the answer to this question was clear. Note that I’m interpreting “best” as “most fitting for such a day.”

Although the NFL schedule doesn’t typically come out until April, now that the 2013 AFC division winners are finalized, the Broncos know all of their 16 opponents for the 2014 season and where they’ll be playing them.

Peyton Manning is congratulated on the Broncos sideline after setting the NFL single-season TD record. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

You’re going to read a lot in tomorrow’s Denver Post about Peyton Manning’s single-season touchdown record, but here’s a quick look at the other players on the top-10 list. Notice, all but Dan Marino and Kurt Warner put up their numbers after 2000.

With 10 days to mull over their loss to San Diego, the Broncos seemed to move on after their mini-bye leading up to their trip to Houston. With Peyton Manning being recognized with a somewhat prestigious honor and no new injuries to worry about, the team shouldn’t have had too much to complain about, especially considering they face two losing teams to end the regular season.

Monday: The Broncos had what they called a “bonus” practice on Monday; usually, the team just has meetings, but with no Sunday game, it was able to get out there on the field. Peyton Manning, Wes Welker (concussion), Kayvon Webster (thumb) and Derek Wolfe (illness) sat out the practice.

Manning was also honored as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year, an honor that was announced Sunday night. Sports Illustrated editor Chris Stone was on hand at Dove Valley to discuss the honor, and a dinner was held for Manning Monday night. Also, if you don’t take the time to read Lee Jenkins’ story about Manning, on the cover of this week’s issue, you’re bananas.

With the Broncos heading to Houston for Sunday’s game against the Texans, let’s take a look at the NFL’s best pass rushers of 2012, who are about to meet up after 2013 seasons that have held a whole lot less fanfare. (And no, I can’t promise that every future Stat of the Day post will be this detailed.)

A year ago, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and Broncos linebacker Von Miller were wrapping up seasons in which they logged 20.5 and 18.5 sacks, respectively, each falling just short of Michael Strahan’s single-season record of 22.5. (Oh, and Aldon Smith finished 2012 with 19.5 sacks, to boot.) It was the year of the 2011 draft class on defense, with the league’s three best players on three of its best teams, poised for big things in the year to come.

Case Keenum on the ground after getting sacked against the Colts. (Michael Hickey, Getty Images)

The Texans announced Wednesday that quarterback Case Keenum will not play against the Broncos Sunday. Keenum is suffering from a thumb injury, and Matt Schaub will get the start in his place. Schaub was demoted mid-season after struggling with interception after interception (after interception).

Houston also placed running back Ben Tate on injured reserve Wednesday, ending his season. Tate broke his fifth rib of 2013, which proved to be too much. He led the team in rushing, with 771 yards on the season, before being shut down.

When the Broncos beat the Chiefs on Dec. 1, it went a long way toward shoring up the AFC West. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Sure, the Broncos clinched a playoff berth on Sunday by virtue of their win over the Tennessee Titans, but that was just the first step in the team shoring up its January schedule. This weekend, Denver has a chance not only to clinch the AFC West, but also to lock up a first-round bye.

To clinch the division, the Broncos must beat the San Diego Chargers on Thursday, and the Kansas City Chiefs must lose to the Raiders in Oakland on Sunday.

To clinch the first-round bye, both of the above must occur, and the Cincinnati Bengals must lose to or tie with the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Wes Welker is attended to on the field during the Broncos’ 27-17 victory over the Chiefs. The team later announced he suffered a concussion. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Not since the 1998 Miami Dolphins has a team faced a more difficult three-game stretch, in terms of opponents’ record, this late in the season like the one the 2013 Broncos have faced in the past three weeks.

Counting this week’s game at Kansas City, the Broncos last three opponents had a combined 25-5 record entering the game. The Chiefs were 9-0 two weeks ago. New England was 7-3 entering play last Sunday. The Chiefs are 9-2 entering play Sunday at Arrowhead.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau this is the most difficult three-game stretch a team has played in November or later since the 1998 Dolphins faced the 9-4 Jets, 13-1 Broncos and 13-2 Falcons.

The Dolphins went 1-2 in their stretch with their coming against the Broncos. The 2013 Broncos are 1-1 two-thirds through their three-game gauntlet.

Peyton Manning and the Broncos could clinch a playoff berth Sunday — if a lot of things go right. (Denver Post file)

Yes, to many of you, the Broncos making the playoffs is a foregone conclusion. The question is not if, but where — where they’ll stack up, that is, at the top of the AFC West as a No. 1 seed, most likely, or as the No. 5 seed and a wild card.

Mathematically speaking, though, Peyton Manning and company have yet to secure their playoff berth, and they can this weekend if just one of the following five rather complex scenarios transpires:

More injury news dominated the Broncos’ week leading up to their matchup against the Patriots on Sunday at New England. What should have been Wes Welker’s tearful reunion with his former team was called into jeopardy after he suffered a concussion, and the Broncos were also forced to shuffle and add players at safety after Rahim Moore was placed on IR. The more positive news, at least for Denver: the Patriots opened as home underdogs for the first time since 2005. The last time Tom Brady and company were home underdogs, Peyton Manning’s Colts delivered them a thorough beatdown.

Monday: Following up the team’s big win over the Chiefs on Sunday, the focus was more on injuries than the division standings. Tight end Julius Thomas was ruled as day-to-day with a knee injury, Welker was diagnosed with a concussion, and Jack Del Rio revealed that Moore had undergone surgery for compartment syndrome. The syndrome is a serious one, and Moore left Sunday’s game with what the team termed a lower-leg injury. It wasn’t until late in the night after the game that Moore awoke in pain, called the Broncos’ trainer and was hospitalized.

Yes, I know. You might be tired of hearing about the Dolphins’ Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin fiasco. There’s been a lot of talk about it this week from every perspective, so you’ve probably found someone among all the talking heads you agree with. That said, a few stories were circulating on Twitter Thursday morning about the issue specifically and the bigger picture behind it, and I figured they might be worth sharing.

I also found this story, which was being tweeted around a bit. It’s from back in 2011 and from The Nation, which is hardly a sports publication. That said, “Jocks vs. Pukes,” by Robert Lipsyte, is a really good look at jock culture in sports. You know the drill: Read it.

Peyton Manning runs for a touchdown in the first half of Sunday’s game in Dallas. (Associated Press file)

Think of all the TV shows that have been out there since Labor Day. The Big Bang Theory. NCIS. The Biggest Loser. Eric & Jessie.

Across the TV land, Broncos games had three of the four most watched TV shows and four of the top seven. The 12 most watched TV shows since Labor Day were all NFL games. The “Big Bang” Theory was the best of the rest at No. 13.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.